I'm trying to figure out how many calories I burn in a day, but I have no idea. Can you help me?

Thanks! Calorie Confused

Dear Calorie Confused,

Yes, as a matter of fact I CAN help you. I'm going to point you in the direction of something called a "BMR Calculator". This handy dandy tool will tell you how many calories your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing (sounds like a fun day to me). There's a formula that takes into account your height, weight, age and gender -- and based on those things, it tells you how many calories your body burns per day. This is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Remember, if you do more activity than just lying around all day (which you probably do!), your body requires additional calories to fuel those activities. So, just the calories from your BMR wouldn't be enough to sustain you on a daily basis. In other words, dont use your BMR as the total number of calories you need to eat in a day. Use that info as a baseline from which to add calories for activity. If you want to know more about this topic, consult a doctor or nutrition professional. FYI -- they say depriving your body of food can actually slow down your BMR (a very BAD thing!), and doing lots of cardio can actually increase it (which rocks!). Here's a link to the calculator. Definitely forward this email to everyone you know, because there's probably not a person on the planet who isn't interested in finding out this magic number.

Hungry Girl,

Do you have a recipe for low-fat hot wings? I am in love with them, so I need a guilt-free swap. Help!!!

Wanting Wings

Dear Wanting Wings,

Most orders of greasy, diet-busting wings contain over 1,000 calories and 40-80 grams of fat! Wings = bad for you. Making low-fat wings is pretty much impossible, because wings are really all about the skin -- and the skin is obviously the part of the chicken that has the most fat. So when I crave wings, here's what I do -- I just take some cooked, skinless, white-meat chicken breast -- chop it up, and mix it with Frank's RedHot Original (the best bottled hot sauce EVER, and it's used in most chicken wing recipes). Then I sprinkle some reduced-fat grated Parmesan on it, heat, and eat! If you use 3 ounces of lean chicken with 2 teaspoons of the grated Parm, the whole thingll have around 120 calories and 2 grams of fat (a low 3 Points)! I also love eating it with some cut-up celery & carrots and a little fat-free ranch dressing (fat-free bleu cheese works too). When I make this, I feel like I'm pigging out on chicken wings. DO IT -- it's awesome!

CHEW ON THIS:Today, July 18th, is National Caviar Day. FYI -- Caviar has about 40 calories and 2.5 grams of fat per tablespoon, and some medical experts say it can help treat depression.

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